Gypsy Summer

A lot can happen within a short span of days when Mama packs up 2 suitcases for 3 people, kisses Daddy goodbye and starts 10 weeks of gypsy life.

 One day we are saying our goodbyes to teachers in Dubai

 The next day is spent celebrating Chris' 4 decades at the Hofbräuhaus House in Deira

and before you know it we are in Modesto celebrating

 Father's day with Grandpa

and glued to besties around the house in Linden.

i have to scroll through our camera to remind myself of all the activities that have taken place from Newport to San Francisco within the last 6 weeks.

Special flight to So Cal

Target practice with cousins

Swim parties with face painting and photo booths.

Finding out she's still too short to take a twirl in Santa Cruz but big enough for the Kings River.  

We soaked up the sun on 3 different California beaches

Climbed rocks

and took hikes at 2 different state parks.

Backyard camp outs rounded out fun summer days.

 We packed so much of beautiful California into our trip that i am thankful i have pictures to remind us of where we have been. 

One thing i don't need to be reminded of is how blessed we are in the department of family and friends, the REAL reason we came back. 

spending a day with 4 Generations :-)

Park days with Grandma

Catching up with the girlfriends that would do anything for you

Some of which include, sticky notes on the coffee pot "so when you stumble awake from your jet lag you don't have to think about which button is the ON."

They also fly me, scheme the surprise party for me, give us their car, feed us, do our laundry, plan our vacation away from our vacation, laugh with us, cry with us, and encourage us.

Thanks to friends and family my children's faces are beaming 16 hours a day and passed out from exhaustion the other 8.

Speaking of which, thanks to my camera, they finally understand that while i love them both exactly the same i prefer to bunk with one over the other

In California our hugs don't have to be Skyped

Summer gets even sweeter when Daddy arrives!

The past 6 weeks have been an amazing whirlwind of grand excitement as we have roamed about California attempting to squeeze out every precious moment we can with friends and family.  i would imagine it is a lot like climbing into a large glass booth on a game show and as the timer starts you realize you have 60 seconds to stash as many $100 bills as you possibly can in your pockets.  Although i would like to think we weren't as frantic in our endeavor, i do know that the moments we stashed away are worth a lot more than gold. 

Although we are heading out you all know where our hearts are!

Thank you for making this a

Beautiful Gypsy Summer!